Technology Forgiveness: Why emerging technologies differ in their resilience to institutional instability (original) (raw)

Government support of manufacturing innovations: two country-level case studies

IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 1993

It is generally recognized that some measure of state support for innovation is necessary in order to preserve a position of international competitiveness. During the 1980's, governments of most advanced industrial economies introduced a range of programs designed to facilitate the introduction of advanced manufacturing technologies. This paper reviews the theoretical underpinnings of these policies from the literature on the transfer of technology and outlines the pattern of policy evolution that has occurred as policymakers have become more aware of the determinants of the diffusion process. The paper illustrates the principal features of typical government programs in Europe with case studies from the United Kingdom and (West) Germany. These cases are presented as a means of illustrating how different governments have translated basically similar principles into alternative policy mechanisms for promoting the transfer of technology. The paper argues for the continuing need for government support for small-and medium-sized enterprises and for firms in more traditional sectors and concludes with some reflections on lessons learned during the 1980's that might usefully inform future policy development into the 1990's.

The institutional domain of technology diffusion

Journal of Product Innovation Management, 1991

Marketing implications of technological innovation have received considerable attention in the recent past. In this article, Mohan Reddy, John Aram, and Leonard Lynn suggest that the institutional scope for understanding technology diffusion, in addition to supplier and user organizations and industries, should include organizations that manufacture technological complementarities, institutions that possess vertical complementary assets, and the nonmarket sector. The nonmarket sector includes trade associations, professional societies, governmental agencies, independent research agencies, and public service organizations. The authors develop a set of propositions and discuss the implications of our framework for marketers of technical products.

Policy entrepreneurship in the co-evolution of institutions, preferences, and technology

Research Policy, 2005

This paper uses the concept of policy entrepreneurship to explain the social processes underlying sustainable technical change in the pulp and paper industry in the 1990s. It presents a detailed case study on the differences in the transition to and diffusion of totally chlorine free (TCF) pulp bleaching methods in Sweden and the USA. This change was sustained in the former, while it was almost absent in the latter. The paper studies the causes for this difference. It looks at the complex coevolution of technology, institutions, and consumer preferences that has taken place in both countries and draws conclusions on how transitions to sustainable paths in production and consumption may be supported by economic and social policy.

Institutional support for technological improvement — The case of Hungary

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 1996

The technological "time warp" in which Hungary, like other Central and Eastern European countries, has found itself since the 1950s is at an end. This article concentrates on the transformation of institutional structures that support innovation and industrial technological development. First, it summarizes the types of institutions that support technological development. In a market economy, the process of generation and diffusion of innovation largely depends on the institutional and economic structure of the country. In a narrower sense, those institutions might be included in this group whose aim is wholly or in part to assist firms in experimenting with, understanding, and implementing new products and new production processes and improving quality. This article then details forms of inter-firm cooperation and highlights some empirical research findings based on three sectors-the pharmaceutical, machine tool, and car parts industries-which represent three different cases in the restructuring of Hungarian manufacturing. The main lesson of the study is that industry during its redeployment can create few demands for technology development institutes. Because of inherited structure, the accumulated knowledge of existing institutes and the supply and scattered demand of industry for technological support do not regularly coincide.

Technological Revolutions, Paradigm Shifts and Socio-institutional Change

Globalization, Economic Development and Inequality, 2004

A cheap input as vehicle of diffusion Diffusion is self-reinforced A new paradigm as a quantum jump in potential productivity for all A techno-economic paradigm as an overarching logic for the technology systems of a period Difficult assimilation: The shaping of a paradigm takes decades 3. STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN THE ECONOMY AND SOCIO-INSTITUTIONAL INERTIA Institutional inertia: The upswing delayed The example of the previous socio-institutional framework Long waves as coupling and decoupling of the system 4. TECHNO-ORGANISATIONAL PARADIGMS AS GUIDELINES FOR CHANGE IN THE SOCIO-INSTITUTIONAL SPHERE The wide space of the possible The notion of a paradigm can be understood on three levels General principles: Many forms of application The politics of transition

Unlocking a Lock-in: Towards a Model of Technological Succession

Applied Evolutionary Economics, 2003

This paper has three objectives. First, it seeks to set an agenda in which technological successions can be meaningfully discussed. Second, it aims to establish the necessary conditions under which a technological succession may occur. Third, in establishing this set of conditions, the paper identifies some useful analytical tools which could be employed in a formal model of technological transitions.

Development and diffusion trajectory of innovative products in the light of institutional maturity—a comparative empirical analysis of the laser beam printer and optical cards

Technovation, 2001

This work examines the development of the laser beam printer (LBP) and optical cards in the context of institutional maturity. A comparative analysis of the development of their respective diffusion trajectories was undertaken. The LBP developed along a successful trajectory coincident with optimal institutional maturity. However, the optical cards were developed in a trajectory which did not coincide with institutional maturity. This work demonstrates that the reason one case was successful and the other failed was a misinterpretation of institutional maturity in the target market for optical cards-the medical and welfare market. This marketplace and its related institutions differ from the consumer goods market because it is conservative and reluctant to accept technological innovation.

New technological path creation and the role of institutions in different geo-political spaces

European Planning Studies

This paper analyses the roles of institutions in facilitating or impeding the creation of new technological pathways in different countries. It is argued that the successful invention, innovation and diffusion of new technologies require the co-evolution of relevant institutions. It is argued that informal institutions, through their impact on people's beliefs, perceptions and consequential behaviour, crucially influence whether formal institutions coevolve with technological development and changing circumstances. At the same time, the rigidity of the pre-existing formal institutional arrangements impacts on whether agents can stimulate their co-evolution with the introduction of new technologies. These arguments are explored by comparing the creation of new wind power technologies in Britain and Germany since the 1970s.

New industrial platforms and radical technology foresight: the case of 3D printing in Finland and Europe

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2018

This paper aims at providing a comprehensive outlook on the economic and organisational rationale of 3D printing technologies and their implications for innovation in the Italian manufacturing industry. Despite its limited impact on the industrial world, the idea of printing actual 3D objects has clearly captured the popular imagination; 3D printing is often linked to 'big changes' or to sometimes indefinite industrial revolutions in progress because it is considered that 3D printing will eventually enable 'mass customisation'. None of the most significant actual applications of AM in Italian manufacturing, however, suggests that any real 'manufacturing revolution' has started or can be foreseen in the near future for consumer goods. For these AM is neither competitive today, nor can it be made so in the future, unless some sort of technological quantum leap occurs.

Institutions for Technology Diffusion

2015

p. cm.-(IDB Technical Note ; 832) Includes bibliographic references. 1. Technological innovations-Canada. 2. Technological innovations-Europe. 3. Technological innovations-Latin America. 4. Diffusion of innovations-Canada. 5. Diffusion of innovations-Europe. 6. Diffusion of innovations-Latin America. 7. Technology transfer-Canada. 8. Technology transfer-Europe. 9. Technology transfer